John T. Fussell – Vice President

 
The son of a Presbyterian minister, John lived in Maine, New York, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Connecticut.  At age 18, he traveled through the Middle East and crossed Afghanistan on horseback. He was evacuated from Pakistan during the Indian-Pakistan war. He was a member of UAW Local 1251 at Chase Brass and Copper. He worked as a union organizer, and vice president of the Health Care Employees Union, 1199. He co-founded the Connecticut Anti-Apartheid Committee (CCAG) and was appointed along with others by Governor O’Neil to the task force on South Africa.  In coalition with trade unions, community and faith based organizations; they succeeded in 1982, to pass the first State divestment legislation in the U.S. in support of South Africans’ struggle for freedom and equality.  John graduated UCONN Law School in 1995 and works as a labor lawyer representing Teamsters and numerous Building Trades Unions. John is married to Dr. Mina Mina, professor at the UCONN Dental School and chairperson of the Pediatric Dentistry Department. John and Mina have lived in West Hartford since 1989 where they raised two daughters Leila and Maya.